Silver Creek Nursery Ltd.

York Elderberry

Species: Sambucus canadensis

History: York was developed at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York in 1964. It is a cross between the varieties Adams 2 and Ezyoff.

Why We Grow It: York is known for producing exceptionally large berries that are quite flavourful. This variety is also quite productive, a good choice for fans of these delightful dark purple berries! Eating the raw elderberries can cause adverse reactions so it is recommended that you cook them first!

Fruit Specs

Recommended Use: Juice, wine, preserves, baking

Fruit Size: Large

Storage: Keeps about a week in the fridge

Harvest: August - Late

Growing Specs

Canadian Hardiness Zone: 4

Soil Preference: Prefers loam but adaptable to different soil types

Flowering Time:

Bloom Colour: White

Pollination Requirements: Partially self-pollinating, will produce some fruit on its own but will produce more and better fruit with another elderberry variety planted nearby

Sun/Shade Requirements:

Full sun to partial shade (approx. 6-10 hours of sun daily)

General Growth Habits:

Shrub grows up to 2m tall, vigorous with an upright growth habit

Shipping vs. Pick Up

CLICK HERE to see how shipping compares to pick up.

Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of trees across Canada (except BC due to CFIA regulations). We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courrier. CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.

Pick-up: We also have thousands of trees picked up from our nursery each year. The pick-up options is free, though you must wait until you have been emailed a confirmation that your order is ready to pick up, which will have further information such as hours, locations, etc. We really appreciate if you can make an appointment to pick up, then we can be as organized as possible during our busy season.

Size at Purchase

Elderberries are divided into the following grades:

1 year plant - 15-60cm above the roots

There is some overlap in size since we are also taking the age of the plants into account. Some older plants may not have put on quite as much vegetative growth but will have larger root systems.

Unless specified, heights exclude the roots since seedlings and some berries will often have a lot of root growth but relatively little vegetative growth (ex. our Shagbark Hickories seedlings are often 5-15cm above the soil but will have roots that reach 20cm+ in length).

Not all of our berries and seedlings will be available in all of these grades since growth rate can vary significantly across species and even varieties. While we remain competitive in our plant size, it's also worth noting we don't use synthetic chemicals to push vegetative growth, therefore you may find conventional nursery stock larger in some instances comparatively.

Why plant small? It's best to transplant when a plant is young so it can establish its roots before it has a lot of vegetative growth. This is much less stressful on it and bareroot plants tend to catch up and even surpass larger potted ones planted at the same time, after a few years.

Orders that are cancelled last minute due to size (being "too small"), will still incur the applicable cancellation fees if the plants are true to our grading standards as per the agreement of sale when the order was placed.

Size 1 year plant

Quantity